Giant surface electroclinic effect in a chiral smectic A liquid crystal |
| |
Authors: | Ren-Fan Shao Joseph E. MacLennan Noel A. Clark Daniel J. Dyer David M. Walba |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. Department of Physics and Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309, USA;2. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Materials Research Center, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309, USA |
| |
Abstract: | We report the observation of a very large surface electroclinic effect in the smectic A* phase of a chiral liquid crystal. In planar-aligned cells of enantiomerically pure W415, the smectic A* phase grows in from the isotropic state with the layer normal rotated ψ = - 24° from the rubbing direction, a consequence of the surface electroclinic tilt θs of the director. The sign of θs depends on the molecular handedness, with θs ≡ 0 in the racemate, and increasing linearly with moderate enantiomeric excess before saturating as ee → 1. A uniform layer structure can be achieved using cross-rubbed alignment layers, in which case thin cells of W415 in the smectic C* phase display V-shaped (analogue) electro-optic switching. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|